Any like-minded collectors?

I've been at this hobby for the better part of a year now, and have only seen my love for the history and beauty of coins deepen and grow. Many thanks for those of you on this forum who post helpful remarks with regularity, as you have really given me an education that I will carry forever.

One thing that has happened in that time is that I have decided to only collect coins with significant precious metal content. My dad was a jewelry maker and dealer, so I grew up understanding the value (and volatility) of silver and gold. Once I ventured into contemporary coinage, no matter how much I enjoyed the designs, they just seemed like play money to me. Toy coins. I've pulled them out of my collection and restricted it to coins with melt value.

I seek out silver proofs for modern issues where they exist, which seems to work for me. Anyone else find coins with no melt value to personally feel unsubstantial and fake?

 

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There are a lot of contemporary coinage made from silver and gold. I really only collect silver and gold coins (mostly gold though).

 

With you on liking the silver part of older circulation or commemorative coins. However, for me there is nothing quite as fake as a mass produced proof that never even gets a chance to function as a real coin. Proofs are the most fake to me.
I'd rather have an nice copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, worthless modern currency, than to pay the proof premium to a modern day mint.

 

About 20 years ago, I started collecting French, Belgian and Swiss medals from the 19th and early 20th century. These artistic designs with allegorical references can be very thought-provoking and actually inspired some of our US coin designs. It is important to note that many of these medals were not produced in precious metals or were produced in very small mintages because of the expense.

While it is your right to collect as you see fit, I think your opinion that the use of other metals as "unsubstantial and fake" may be a bit premature after you have been collecting for a few decades.

Chris

 

Awesome pushback... hadn't thought of it that way!

 

How about proof 3c or liberty nickels? Or just modern coins?

 

In this hobby there is no greater reward than finishing a set you have been working on for several months-years. Therefore collecting clad kennedy halves to have a complete set is quite a thrill. The clads are cheaper and easier to find, just nice to complete sets. If I didn't buy the clads my set would stop at 1969. I'd still have another 45 years of coins left to have a complete set and that would leave me.. unsatisfied.

Fake money? Toy Money? Clads are REAL money. They have been since 1964 you aren't going to go to the dollar store and by a 2 liter of coke with 4 silver quarters are you?

 

Just modern coins. I don't know much about older proofs, but, I do know that they aren't available in modern mints and that they do not drop down to bullion value after purchase, like most modern proofs do.

 

IMO, Modern proofs are garbage. I can not prove this, however I think people that collect modern proofs may have a low IQ. They get mentally stimulated by shiny objects.

 

Personally, I could care less about the shininess. It's the content. The content does, in fact, mentally stimulate me, I confess.

And I'm rather intelligent, thanks, so that's not the explanation.

 

You should probably collect bullion then.

 

I'm not going to go to the store and buy a two liter of Coke with a Rolex watch, but that's another issue. That does not speak to the matter of whether or not the watch has more value to me than a few modern coins.

 

I collect both, although I very much prefer legal tender issues.

 

http://www.israelmint.com/en

I tend to think, that every average state has a kind of such "limited" proof
mint

 

I agree, i do enjoy coins made out of silver/gold more than other metals. I don't think Ive ever bought a coin that wasn't silver or gold (besides copper coins)

 

how did a comparison between 4 silver quarters and a rolex watch happen?

 

I was just saying that an object's usefulness as currency is not indicative of its value to me as a collector. I concede completely your point that currency is not a toy or fake. Didn't mean to throw a rabbit trail into the thread.

 

How do you feel about modern US nickels, whose melt value (although actual melting is illegal) is roughly on par with their face value, and has exceeded their face value in the past? From your perspective, I'd think they'd enjoy the same "legitimacy" that silver coins would have had pre-1964...?

 

I couldn't disagree more with much of what I'm reading in this thread. If you are only interested in the bullion content, collect bullion. And if you don't like proof coinage stay away from it. But how can you not like this?

 

If you like the historical aspect, copper coins cannot be ignored for their role as currency in our nation. The signs of the times are told by the changes to the cent.